The Jake vs Joshua viewer numbers are in from Netflix and Most Valuable Promotions for Friday’s fight card featuring former heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua defeating influencer boxing upstart Jake Paul at the Kaseya Center in Miami.
But how do the Jake vs Joshua numbers compare to previous MVP and Netflix cards? What trends are we seeing? NY Fights takes a look at the data and offers our observations.
Jake vs Joshua: 33 Million Live Viewers
In Friday’s main event, where Joshua (29-4, 26 KOs) delivered a sixth-round knockout of Paul (12-2, 7 KOs), an estimated average minute audience (AMA) of 33 million Live+1 viewers watched globally from opening to closing bell, per VideoAmp and Netflix.
Note: “Live+SD” means a live video stream in Standard Definition, versus High Definition. This option uses less bandwidth, requires slower internet speeds to stream without buffering, and is often used to accommodate smaller screens, such as phones or laptops.
The event hit Netflix’s Top 10 in 91 countries and ranked first in 45 countries, including the U.S., the U.K., Canada, Germany, Australia, Mexico, and Argentina.
In the all-important social media figures, Jake vs. Joshua generated 1.25 billion impressions across Netflix’s global social channels. The fight was a top-trending topic worldwide on X/Twitter, trending #1 in the US, UK, and Brazil.
This slow-motion clip of Anthony Joshua knocking out Jake Paul is now the highest performing clip from a Netflix live event ever with more than 214 million impressions across Netflix social channels.
How Does Jake vs Joshua Compare to Other Netflix and MVP Cards?
Ask any promoter, and there is no doubt they’d be thrilled with an audience of 33 million viewers. But the pattern for the partnership between MVP and Netflix is showing some audience dropoff. Perhaps weariness?
September’s highly anticipated and career-defining performance by Terence Crawford of Omaha (42-0, 31 KOs), who defeated Saúl “Canelo” Álvarez of Guadalajara (63-3-2, 30 KOs) by unanimous decision, beat Jake vs Joshua in the live numbers.
Canelo vs Crawford scored an estimated average minute audience (AMA) of 36.6 million live+SD viewers from opening to closing bell, per VideoAmp and Netflix. This is approximately ten percent higher than Jake vs Joshua.
The fight generated over 950 million owned impressions across Netflix’s global social channels. Canelo Crawford was a top trending topic worldwide, trending #1 in the U.S. and appearing on trending lists in 21 other countries.
Both events notched impressive gate records. The event set a new record as the highest-grossing boxing gate in the Kaseya Center’s history, although numbers weren’t provided.
Canelo vs Crawford placed third on the all-time biggest boxing gates in Las Vegas. Firmly on top is the 2015 Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao fight, generating $72.2 million in ticket sales. Second is the fight between Mayweather and MMA star Conor McGregor in 2017, at $55.4 million.
Paul vs Tyson Lands The Knockout Punch
Neither card can top the record-breaking boxing spectacle headlined by Jake “El Gallo de Dorado” Paul versus The Baddest Man on the Planet, Mike Tyson.
The event streamed live on Netflix on November 15, 2024 from AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, where a total of 72,300 attendees gathered to witness the historic fight card.
Streaming peaked at 65 million concurrent streams worldwide, with 38 million in the United States.
Taylor Serrano 2 Numbers Score for Women’s Sports
Neither card breaks the all-time record, set in November 2024 on multiple levels by the Most Valuable Promotions fight card featuring the rematch between Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano in the co-main event. This is why the report is specific as the “most watched men’s championship boxing match.”
Netflix reported an average of 74 million global viewers tuned in live to watch the Taylor vs Serrano 2 fight, per both internal data and metrics from TVision, a truly astonishing number.
The American viewership alone blows both events away. TVision estimated an average minute audience of 47 million people for that fight, holding the record for most-watched professional women’s sports event in U.S. history. Fifty million households globally tuned in live for the co-main event, becoming the most-watched professional women’s sporting event in U.S. history.
In the co-main event, between Alycia Baumgardner and Leila Beaudoin, an estimated AMA of 15 million Live +1 viewers globally watched the women’s unification fight.
Dropping Numbers: Is the Jake Paul Party Over?
There are plenty of Jake Paul haters. I am not one of them. Although he was soundly defeated in the ring last Friday, Paul is bringing new audiences to boxing. Undercard fighters get to jump on board and perform in front of audiences far larger than they ever dreamed, including Lucas Bohdi, Yankiel Rivera, and former U.S. Olympian Jahmal Harvey, who opened Friday’s card.
Paul, his partner Nakisa Badarian, and Most Valuable Promotions has given women’s professional boxing a history-making platform, paying the women solid purses and putting its biggest names on the map, including Serrano, Taylor, Baumgardner, Cherneka Johnson, Chantelle Cameron, Elle Scotney, Shadasia Green, and Yokasta Valle, and developing exciting new talents like Tamm Thibault and Krystal Rosado. MVP boasts 14 current world champions and another 17 former champions, contenders, and prospects.
Paul’s work ethic is unassailable. But Paul started in the sport in his mid-20s, and he can only catch up to decades of work in the gym by opponents like Joshua so quickly. He’s run through the stunt opponents from the world of influencers and former MMA champions.
Paul vows after he recovers from the broken jaw dealt to him by Joshua, he intends to drop down to his natural division at cruiserweight and continue his quest for a world championship belt. But how many people really want to see him do this?
If Paul and MVP can temper their desire for the blockbuster stunt cards, Paul has earned the right to take on the titleholders at cruiserweight. But who thinks Paul stands a chance against Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez or Jai Opetaia, both fearsome punchers? Can Paul even hold his own against Noel Mikaelian, who recently defeated Badou Jack to win his title back?
If Paul wants to rack up the audiences, there’s no doubt teeing up fights against guys like KSI or rematches against Nate Diaz or Anderson Silva will draw a crowd. But the days of the mega numbers for Jake Paul seem to have plateaued.
What the data tells us is that fans are starting to get over the novelty of seeing Jake Paul in the ring, whether against professional boxers like Joshua and before him a faded former champion in Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., or even against the influencers and MMA champions in the stunt fights.
There’s a place for influencer boxing. No, really there is. It’s not any worse and not much different than professional wrestling which commands a massive audience with its theatrics, action, and narratives.
But boxing fans and pro wrestling fans have different tastes. It’s the difference between people who love watching reality TV, but not scripted dramas, or news versus comedies. True, it’s hard to tell the difference sometimes. But what longtime boxing fans know and the new fans we warmly welcome are now figuring out is that there IS a difference.
Gayle Falkenthal is an award-winning boxing journalist and the only woman journalist who is a full voting member of the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA). She is the Managing Editor for NY Fights based in San Diego, California.